


Never Have I Ever… had sex with Devi Vishwakumar

by uselessenterprise



Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Canon Compliant, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, First Time, High School, High School Graduation, Loss of Virginity, POV Third Person Limited, Post-Canon, Rival Relationship, Rivalry, gratuitous Riverdale references, mentions of past Ben/Shira, mentions of past Ben/female OC, mentions of past Devi/Paxton, not beta-read bc this is my secret shame, nothing spicy happens until after they're both 18, pining!Ben, sex pact
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24425863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uselessenterprise/pseuds/uselessenterprise
Summary: If anyone had told sixteen year-old Ben Gross that he would spend the night after his high school graduation losing his virginity to his nemesis, he would probably have laughed in their face. But here he is at eighteen, with his own graduation party raging downstairs, fumbling with a condom wrapper as he prepares to have sex for the first time. With Devi Vishwakumar. Did I mention that part already?
Relationships: Ben Gross/Devi Vishwakumar
Comments: 51
Kudos: 178





	1. The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> I don't usually write anything with time skips, so please let me know what you think and leave a comment if you're so inclined! I have a ton of ideas for this ship and I'm excited to finally start putting some of them out there.

_[John McEnroe]: If anyone had told sixteen year-old Ben Gross that he would spend the night after his high school graduation losing his virginity to his nemesis, he would probably have laughed in their face. But here he is at eighteen, with his own graduation party raging downstairs, fumbling with a condom wrapper as he prepares to have sex for the first time. With Devi Vishwakumar. Did I mention that part already?_

_Listen, maybe this was inevitable. Devi and Ben have been circling each other since the day they met; maybe their orbits were always destined to collapse, leaving them to collide. But if you asked me to pinpoint a specific start to all this, well, I would tell you about one particular night at Ben's house, just over two years ago…_

**\- - -**

**TWO YEARS AGO**

It's a quiet night at Ben's place when the topic comes up between them. Devi and her mom still aren't on speaking terms, and the situation doesn't show signs of changing anytime soon. She's only been staying with him for about a week, but they've already settled into a routine: get home from school, eat a snack Patty made for them, study (usually not without their competition spilling over into some kind of mild fight), eat dinner, and then play video games or watch TV until one or both of them feels like going to bed. Honestly, it's the least lonely Ben has felt in a long time.

This particular night, they've been sitting on the couch and scrolling through Netflix, arguing over what to watch and—of course—both refusing to compromise. They bicker for so long that the sky fades from the orange and pink glow of California dusk to the inky black hues of night. Ben gotten too absorbed in the argument with Devi to bother getting up to turn on the lights in the living room, so by the time he finally realizes how dark it's gotten, the room is lit only by the glow of the massive wall-mounted TV. Devi takes advantage of Ben's momentary distraction at the passage of time to lean across the couch and snatch the remote from his hand.

"Hey!" he yells.

"Success!" Devi whoops. "God, that took forever." She scrolls back to the top of the Netflix homepage. "Finally, we can watch the new episode of Riverdale."

"Whatever," Ben mutters, already resolving to look at his phone the whole time. Before he can even pull it out, though, the "previously on Riverdale" segment is already playing, and his mouth drops open.

"Wait, all this stuff happened in the _last episode_?" he sputters, disbelieving.

Devi shushes him aggressively.

"Just follow along, Ben, it's not that hard!"

He tries and fails to come up with an appropriate retort; all his brain cells are focused on just trying to figure out what the hell is happening on the screen in front of him.

"How old are the characters supposed to be?" Ben wonders, as Jughead's expository monologue fades into Archie and Veronica full-on making out in what appears to be an empty classroom at their school.

"I don't know, they're sophomores, so I guess our age?" Devi huffs.

"What?!" he laughs. "C'mon, I've never seen anyone our age that looks _or_ acts like this."

"Just 'cause you're not sexy or cool doesn't mean others aren't, Ben," she tells him condescendingly. On screen, Archie and Veronica start taking their makeout session to the next level.

There still aren't any lights on, and Ben is just now realizing that Riverdale is a very _dark_ show, not just in tone, but visually as well. That leaves him and Devi sitting just inches apart on the couch in a darkened room where a surprisingly explicit sex scene is starting to play out before them.

"Sucks that you and Paxton never got your Archie and Veronica moment," Ben says, just to break the silence and maybe alleviate the awkwardness he's feeling. He immediately regrets it when he sees Devi stiffen beside him. Why the hell would he bring up Paxton? Ben hadn't pried into Devi's relationship with him, whatever it was, but they definitely hadn't been talking lately. Which is kind of weird, since she and Paxton seemed to be acting super friendly before his party, and people were saying they even left together that night after Devi fell into the pool. A wave of nausea washes over Ben as he remembers the double rejection he had faced that night from Devi—and to top it off, she had left with the guy she'd clearly been pining after all along. Yeah, he definitely shouldn't have brought it up.

"I mean, who knows?" Devi says, clearly trying to sound casual, but failing miserably. Ben turns to her in surprise, just in time to catch her shrugging. "It could still happen between us."

"Really?" he says, disbelieving. "Even after you, what was it again, touched his chest and then _ran away?_ And then lied to everyone about having sex with him?"

Devi scoffs.

"Whatever dude, that's in the past. And he totally forgave me for lying, 'cause he's a good person like that." She pauses, biting her lip, appearing to struggle internally for a moment. "Can I tell you something? Something I haven't told anyone yet?"

Ben's heart rate speeds up.

"Sure."

"Paxton and I kissed," Devi tells him, tone hushed. She says the words like they're holy, a blessing to be uttered with care, and Ben's stomach drops.

"Oh." That's all he can say. Just "oh". He feels like an idiot.

"He drove me home from your party—I don't know if you noticed, you were probably making out with Shira or whatever—and before I went into my house, he kissed me. Paxton Hall-Yoshida kissed me," she repeats, almost as if she has to convince herself it really happened.

If Ben felt like an idiot before, he identifies as a certified dunce now. Why didn't he go to help Devi out of the pool that night? If he had, maybe she wouldn't have gone home with Paxton, and nothing would have happened between them. But by the time Ben unfroze after seeing Devi fall into the pool, Paxton was already rushing over to help her up. Swooping in to save her and stealing her heart, like always.

"So," Devi continues, interrupting his thoughts, "I guess what I'm saying is that there _is_ still a chance for me and Paxton to bang it out."

"Why do you care so much about having sex, anyway?" Ben snaps.

Devi laughs meanly, a cold sound that makes Ben wince. 

"Ben, you're literally the person who gave my friends and I the life-ruining nickname of _unfuckable nerds_ ," she counters.

"I wouldn't call it _life-ruining_!" Ben protests. In a softer tone, he adds, "And I said I was sorry."

"That doesn't change the fact that pretty much everyone in school has referred to us by that nickname for over a year now! Maybe I just want to prove that I'm not the gross loser everyone says I am!" Devi finishes ranting and sighs. "And I kind of thought that _you_ , out of everyone, would understand just wanting to feel cool for once," she admits.

It's a low blow, but Ben can't blame her for it. He does understand.

"So… you want to have sex to feel cool? 'Cause, Devi, I don't know if that's the best-"

"Ugh, you sound just like my therapist," Devi groans—which, okay, that's something to unpack, but she's already barreling ahead—"It's not just to feel cool! It's also, like… God, I can't believe I'm saying this, but like, I'm a person with wants and desires, y'know? And maybe I just want someone to fulfill those desires. Someone hot like Paxton. Maybe it's what I deserve. Maybe, just maybe, the universe, or the gods, or whatever, owes me something good after all the shit I've been put through this past year."

Devi is pointedly _not_ looking at him now. Ben tries to wrap his head around how vulnerable she's being with him, exposing how wronged she feels by everything that's happened to her, some of which he knows is his fault. He hurriedly tries not to think about what Devi's particular "wants and desires" might be.

Devi suddenly whirls around to face him.

"Wait a second, why is this all about me?" she demands. Ben should've expected this; her deflection skills are truly unparalleled. "It's not like you're exactly the stud of the school!"

Ben glares at her.

"Yeah, but I have a _girlfriend_."

"So?" Devi huffs, crossing her arms in front of her. "Have you guys had sex?"

"Wh- That's private!" Ben stutters, feeling his face heat up. 

"So, that's a no," Devi says smugly. "Then who are _you_ to lecture me about sex?! You're a virgin too!"

"Okay, point taken, but I totally _could_ have sex if I wanted to!" Ben counters. Devi rolls her eyes.

"Sure, Gross. Keep deluding yourself that any woman would want to touch you."

"Whatever. I'm pretty sure the chances of me getting laid are still higher than the chances of anything happening between you and Paxton," he counters.

"Well, I did run the stats…" Devi mutters to herself.

"What?!"

"Nothing! Anyway, you clearly just can't deal with me being better than you in yet _another_ area of your sad, sad life."

Ben is just now beginning to realize his mistake. Appealing to Devi's competitive nature? What was he thinking?

"Sex isn't a competition, Devi," he tells her slowly.

She shrugs nonchalantly, a smirk on her face.

"Pretty sure someone would only say that if they knew they had no chance of winning."

Ben angles his body to face Devi properly. He doesn't want to take the bait, because there's no way this could ever end well, but she knows exactly how to rile him up sometimes. Exercising what little self-control he has when it comes to Devi, Ben says, 

"Look, David–"

"I bet I'll end up having sex before you even get to, like, second base." Devi talks over Ben like he hadn't even spoken, which, hey, nothing new there.

"I have a girlfriend, in case you forgot!" Ben insists. He doesn't even know why he keeps bringing it up; he and Shira aren't close, not at all, but it feels like the only advantage he has over Devi right now.

"Okay, wanna bet, then? Or are you afraid you'll lose?" Devi's more animated than she was a few short minutes ago, practically bouncing up and down on the couch. It's good to see her like this instead of moping, but Ben knows this isn't really a sensible road for them to go down. They haven't properly talked about his two attempts to kiss her or what they mean, aside from his rambling excuses at the lockers before she asked to move in with him. He knows now that there's no stopping his feelings for Devi, but she obviously doesn't like him like that; entering into some weird sexual bet with her is the last thing he should be doing. But when Devi gets an idea into her head, she's an unstoppable force. And lately when it comes to Devi, apparently Ben is anything but an immovable object.

He sighs. "What are the terms?"

Devi clasps her hands together.

"Okay, it has to be full-on penetrative sex, like in chapter 78 of _After_ when Tessa and Hardin finally do it. And we have to tell the other person in, like, a reasonable amount of time afterwards."

"Alright, I'm not gonna pretend to know who Tessa or Hardin are, but anyway." Ben clears his throat. "Does there have to be any… proof?"

"What?!" Devi punches him in the arm, hard. "No, you pervert! It's an honor system."

Ben raises an eyebrow, trying not to wince at the pain in his arm. "You already lied about having sex with Paxton once. How do I know you wouldn't do it again?"

Devi purses her lips.

"You're right, I already lied about it—which means I learned my lesson. Paxton almost stopped talking to me forever because of what I did. I'm not stupid enough repeat the mistake. Besides, I'll be, like, glowing, and all mature and shit afterwards. You'll just _know_."

Ben fake-gags. He can admit that he may not be the most knowledgeable about intimacy, but Devi has some really weird misconceptions about sex.

"Okay, so is there a time frame for this bet?" he asks.

"How about… graduation?" Devi nods her head, the idea having clearly just occurred to her seconds ago; making it up as she goes, like all her hare-brained schemes. "Yeah, graduation's good, 'cause if I haven't had sex by then my life will be over anyway, so there's no way it's not happening before then. Plus, you might get a pity date to prom, so it gives you a fighting chance." Ben chooses to ignore that last statement.

"Why would your life be over if you didn't have sex by graduation?"

"'Cause it's like, super lame to still be a virgin by the time you get to college, Ben. Duh!"

"Devi, I really don't think it's as big of a deal as you think it is," Ben attempts to persuade her.

"That's easy for you to say," Devi retorts. "Have you ever been labelled an unfuckable nerd?"

She is really never going to let him live that down.

"Fine, graduation it is, then," he acquiesces. "What does the person who has sex first… _win_?"

"Bragging rights," Devi replies instantly.

"Really? That's all you want?" Ben asks. Devi does love beating him and then taunting about it, but it seems unlike her to settle for something so simple.

"I mean, there's no trophy for having sex." She smirks. " _Yet_. But I get what you're saying."

"Like, how about… the loser has to help the winner pack all their stuff for college?" Ben suggests.

"That's kind of lame, but okay," Devi agrees. "I won't say no to getting my own personal servant to help fold all the cute clothes I'm gonna take to Princeton."

"Okay," Ben repeats, not really knowing what else to say. A weird silence falls between the two of them. On the TV, Betty and Archie are having a charged moment as they hide from Riverdale's latest serial killer in an abandoned warehouse.

"You're really this sure that you're gonna have sex with Paxton?" Ben tries, hoping he can maybe change Devi's mind at the last minute. "Are you guys even talking right now?"

"What, are you spying on me now?" Devi retaliates, crossing her arms and looking away from him.

"No! I just– I noticed you guys aren't talking as much as you were a couple weeks ago."

"Things are kind of weird right now. Not just with Paxton, but with pretty much everyone in my life. Well, except for you," Devi admits, and Ben's heart skips a beat, the traitor. "But Paxton and I are meant to be! This is just the part in the story where the heroine is at her worst point, before she gets the guy, and her friends forgive her, and her mom stops trying to force her to move to India." She sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than Ben. Then, in classic Devi fashion, she deflects from herself by rounding on him once again. "So, why haven't you and Shira done it yet?"

"I mean, we've talked about it," Ben lies, "but we both agreed that we're not ready to take that step yet."

"Wait, really?" Devi looks genuinely shocked.

 _No_ , Ben thinks. He and Shira haven't had a full conversation in weeks. He doesn't even know what she'd say to him if he broached the subject of sex.

"Yeah, totally," he says. "So we're like, taking it slow, y'know."

"God, it's like you _want_ me to win!" Devi exclaims.

Ben groans.

"Look, Devi, I don't want you to rush, or do anything you wouldn't otherwise, just 'cause of some stupid competition between us."

"I'm not rushing," she tells him hotly. "Paxton and I are gonna have sex anyway at some point, so it's just a nice bonus to be able to rub it in your face."

While Devi seems to believe that she and Paxton are an inevitable item, Ben really doesn't want to go down that road, so he changes the subject.

"Wait, what if neither of us has sex before graduation?" he wonders. "Then no-one would win."

Devi scoffs.

"Impossible. Paxton and I are going to bone _for sure_."

"Okay, then let's say _hypothetically_ ," Ben pushes. "Would we both just… lose? No-one gets bragging rights, or a personal mover?" Honestly, it sounds like the best possible outcome to him. Neither one of them really needs to be shoving details about their sex lives in the other's face, for various reasons that he'd rather not think about right now.

Devi mulls it over.

"I mean, if neither of us bones someone before graduation, obviously no-one would get the perks of winning." Her face lights up with a realization. "Oh God, then we would both be unfuckable nerds!"

Ben laughs loudly, making Devi cracks a smile too, even though she still looks a bit horrified at the prospect.

"I mean, it'd never happen, 'cause I'm for sure gonna hook up with Paxton, but Fabiola's always saying how important it is to account for every possible test case…" Devi chews on her bottom lip.

"Okay," she resumes, seeming uncharacteristically nervous. "If neither of us can get laid by graduation, then maybe… maybe we just have sex with each other."

Ben's mouth hangs open in shock, and he can't do anything but stare at Devi. He probably looks ridiculous, but he can't form words right now. He can't even think. His world has been tilted off its axis, because Devi Vishwakumar just proposed that she and Ben should have sex with each other.

"I mean, at that point, I'd probably be desperate enough to shack up with the first loser I saw anyway," Devi continues, completely oblivious to his inner struggle. "And this way, I wouldn't have to go to college as an inexperienced weirdo."

Upon processing her words, Ben's world instantly realigns itself. Of course Devi doesn't actually want him like _that_. She just wants to use him for sex. Wow, is this how Paxton felt?

"Devi," he begins, finally having found his voice, although it comes out way less confident than he'd like. "I really don't know if that's the best idea."

Devi throws up her hands, the exasperation evident on her face.

"Like I said, Gross, it's never going to happen! I'm totally gonna get laid before graduation, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides, it's a bet. There have to be stakes!"

Ben snaps.

"Fine!" he yells, reaching out his hand for her to shake. He just wants to be done with this conversation. He's tried his best to dissuade Devi from her batshit idea, but it's clearly not working, and he's really not equipped to handle this… thing between them. Her rejections from his party still sting, and while Devi humbling herself to ask if she could stay with him had healed things a little bit, the constant talk of Paxton and sex and _Ben and Devi possibly having sex_ just feels like salt in the wound.

"Fine."

Devi grasps his hand and shakes it firmly. Neither of them releases their grip right away, resulting in their hands ending up suspended in a motionless handshake, a cruel mockery of a tender embrace. Time seems to stop for Ben while he and Devi hold hands and just… look at each other.

Devi breaks the moment first.

"Well, I'm going to bed," she announces, withdrawing her hand and standing up. "'Night, loser."

She strides out of the room, leaving Ben alone. He sits blankly and lets the closing credits of Riverdale flicker in front of his eyes, all the while thinking: _What the hell just happened?_

_[McEnroe]: My question exactly, Ben._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, fun fact: the Riverdale episode mentioned in this chapter doesn't exist! I am a (reluctant) Riverdale fan, so I tried to include a real episode with a smutty scene early in its runtime that feature either of the main couples when they're still sophomores (since that’s a sticking point for Ben, and pretty much anyone else who watches the show). However, we know that Devi watched an episode of Riverdale with Kamala, resulting in her asking, "These are high schoolers? And their parents are okay with them taking showers together in their homes?" That remark can only refer to the iconic scene early in the first episode of season two, in which Veronica and Archie shower together while his dad is on life support in the hospital after being shot (I told you it was iconic). I didn't want to reference that episode, since Devi would have already seen it, but there aren't really any more episodes that fit my criteria... So I just made up a Riverdale episode (although the scene was inspired by Archie and Veronica's weirdly public music-room sex in season 4, episode 13).
> 
> Anyway, all this to say, I read multiple articles about “the hottest scenes in Riverdale” out of a commitment to Netflix canon in my own fic, only for it to not matter in the end. I also had to Google what chapter the protagonist has sex in Anna Todd’s After for this. That’s suffering for your art, I guess.


	2. The Party, Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter y'all; I realized it's been a week since I posted chapter 1, and I want to keep updating semi-regularly and not make my chapters too bloated, so... I was editing what was supposed to be chapter 2 and I just kept adding stuff, so I cut it in half to post this one real quick. (This fic was only supposed to be 3 chapters, then it went to 4, now it's at 5...) If it's any consolation, I think the next chapter (which will actually have some Ben/Devi interaction lmaooo) will be up in less than a week!

_[Andy Samberg]: So, looks like it's back to the future. Oooh, get it, like the movie! Anyway, before we hop back into the events John was telling you about earlier, I think we should rewind a few hours, just to get some context. Oh, also, I'm taking over this part for John, since I know Ben a little better. Honestly, I think he was just getting a little bit uncomfortable with the sexual stuff… Even I'm gonna have to leave once these two really start getting frisky, 'cause I don't want this to get weird. But let me set the scene: it's Ben's graduation party, which he's throwing because his parents are going out of town tonight. C'mon, are you really surprised? Now, Ben hasn't hosted a party since the disastrous events of his sixteenth birthday, but he's hoping things will turn out a lot better this time. Anyway, our scene opens on Ben and Trent Harrison standing by the pool… Samberg out!_

**\- - -**

**PRESENT DAY**

"Yo, you want some grandma juice, Gross?"

Ben sighs.

"Trent, you know I _know_ that you put your balls in there, right?"

Trent starts cracking up.

"I almost got you though, admit it!"

While Paxton was able to graduate on time, unsurprisingly, Trent had not managed to achieve the same feat. Now that he's finally earned enough credits, he's graduating with Ben's class, a year behind all his friends. Trent's been pretty cool about it, though, and over the past year, Ben has been surprised by how chill Trent is one-on-one, outside the realm of his old popular friends. The kid is still dumb as hell, however, as evidenced by the fact that he's pulled the exact same punch "prank" at every party Ben's ever seen him attend. Everyone knows Trent does it; Ben thinks the only reason kids at their school still serve punch in a bowl at parties is just so that Trent can feel included.

"Hey, it's pretty wild that you and Coyote Girl were joint valedictorians, man," Trent tells him.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Ben replies. "You know, it's actually a funny story–"

"Yeah, it's like, now you _both_ can be remembered as huge nerds, forever!"

"Alright, well, it was nice talking to you, Trent!" Ben gives Trent an awkward shoulder pat before turning on his heel.

Trent yells after him, "Hey, congrats on graduating, Gross! We didn't know if you were gonna be able to do it, but you did!"

Ben shakes his head as he walks away, smiling to himself. It's gonna be weird not going to school with people like Trent any more. Although, he supposes, Yale does have varsity sports, so maybe this won't be the last meathead he interacts with after all.

Ben walks around the pool area on his way to the kitchen, smiling and nodding at various people along the way. It feels like almost all of his graduating class is here. In the pool, a bunch of cheerleaders and popular athletes are playing a game of chicken. It looks like only some of them were prepared enough to bring bathing suits, but those who weren't have just stripped down to their underwear. Ben has to keep a wide berth to avoid getting splashed by any of them. The shrieks of the cheerleaders fade out of earshot once he gets inside the house, only to be replaced by the thumping bass of pop music. In the kitchen, he sees Jonah Sharpe standing by the fridge, chatting with a group of sexually fluid drama students. Oliver Martinez and the rest of the tech crew are nearby, playing some kind of elaborate drinking game that involves launching empty cups over the counter and into the sink. People have turned the entranceway into a makeshift dancefloor, and it's now full of sweaty bodies dancing to the music coming from the house's state-of-the-art sound system.

By all accounts, his party is shaping up to be one of the most legendary in their school's history, but Ben just wants to find a familiar face. Even in this sea of people, he somehow feels alone. He didn't even invite most of these people, but word of a good party always spreads, especially now that everyone has graduated and is fully ready to let loose. He even saw Shira roll up with her entourage at one point, and Ben finds that he doesn't really care. It's weird, how distant he feels from the memories of only two years ago, now that they've all graduated high school and he's only a few short months away from going to his dream college. Besides, it's a big house; it's not like they have to talk to each other.

Over to the right, close to the living room, he finally spots Eleanor and Fabiola leaning against a wall, drinks in hand. Ben's not exactly super close with them, but they've had kind of a friendly relationship ever since he helped reunite them with Devi two years ago. He walks up to them.

"Hey!"

They both flash him polite smiles and return the greeting.

"Wait, where's Devi?" Ben looks around, knowing she probably isn't far away if Eleanor and Fab are already here.

Eleanor and Fabiola exchange a knowing look, which Ben pretends not to see.

"No idea," Eleanor shrugs. "After the ceremony, her mom made her take a million pictures, and then they went out for dinner with Kamala and her uncle. She hasn't texted me in a while, so she's probably either in the middle of begging her mom to let her come here, or sneaking out. But I'm sure she'll show up eventually! She said she'd be here, and you know how Devi is when she puts her mind to something."

"Oh, okay, cool," Ben says, trying not to let any disappointment seep into his voice. There's an awkward silence while the three of them stand there, no-one apparently knowing what to say.

"I liked your speech at the ceremony today," Fabiola tells him, clearly just trying to be nice.

"Thanks," Ben responds. "Although, do you think it would've been a lot better if I had gone second instead? Y'know, the principal actually expected us to fight over who got to speak first, but I think it's much harder to be the opener than to follow someone else. If you go second, the crowd is already warmed up for you. Plus, since the valedictorian is technically supposed to speak last, it kind of makes me look less important, and now that I think about it, the recency effect means that people are way more likely to remember the person that went last, at least in short-term memory, so–"

"You know what," Eleanor interrupts him, "I was actually just thinking about how you and Devi worked surprisingly well together over the whole joint valedictorian thing. We all thought you would've ripped each others' throats out." Fabiola nods her head in confirmation.

"Well, there's a certain dignity that comes with being a valedictorian. We couldn't just act like savages."

Truthfully, Devi had made it _very_ clear that she did not like the idea of sharing the valedictorian position with Ben. He wasn't too keen on it either, although initially upon receiving the news, a small part of him had cheered inside, _see, Devi?! I'm your equal! Will you finally accept that?_

Despite Ben and Devi's initial pushback, the school had insisted there was nothing else to be done: he and Devi had equal GPAs (perfect 4.0's, of course), were involved with an equal amount of respectable extracurricular activities (sophomore year's Model UN summit notwithstanding), and had been accepted to equally prestigious universities (Yale and Princeton, respectively). The administration also made it clear to both students that if one of them put a toe out of line, they would be immediately stripped of the title, and the other party would get all the glory. So, of course, both Ben and Devi had been on their best behaviour, even solving the dispute of who would give the first speech at graduation by playing a game of Rock, Paper Scissors.

 _Well, actually_ , Ben thinks to himself, they were _almost_ completely on their best behaviour. He can't stop himself from smiling at the memory from earlier today.

Ben had lost the deciding game, Devi beating him with rock ("What kind of person picks _scissors_?!"), and so he was assigned the first speech. The valedictorian normally gets ten minutes to talk, but since he and Devi were both given the honour, they were each only allowed to speak for five minutes. When Ben returned to his seat after his time was up, Devi had surprised him by grabbing his arm and pulling him down to her level.

"The speeches were supposed to be _five minutes_ , Ben!" she had hissed at him, shoving her phone, with its timer filling the screen, in his face like an accusation. Apparently, he had talked for twenty seconds too long.

Before Ben had even gotten a chance to respond, Devi just shoved her phone in her pocket, smoothed down her robe, and marched to the podium to give the final address to their graduating class. Her speech was killer—like Ben would expect anything else—and, of course, it was exactly five minutes long.

Ben returns from his reverie to find Fabiola and Eleanor staring at him. Did one of them ask him a question? Is he expected to talk right now? Ben has no idea.

"Whatcha smiling about, Ben?" Eleanor chirps, a mischievous look on her face. Ben blinks.

"Uh, nothing. I mean, I wasn't smiling. What were we talking about, again?"

Eleanor opens her mouth to respond, but Fabiola interjects, "You know what, I think we're gonna go dance!" She grabs Eleanor's free hand and starts dragging her friend towards the entranceway. "It was nice talking to you!"

"We'll let you know if we see Devi!" Eleanor yells over the music, before she's pulled into the crowd.

_[Samberg]: Well, that was weird._

**\- - -**

Ben mills around the party for a little bit, continuing his quest of smiling and nodding at as many people as possible. It's the end of high school, after all; he'll probably never see most of them ever again, so he might as well be polite. He's standing at the top of the stairs, having just finished awkwardly waving at someone down below that Ben's not sure he actually knows, when he sees the figure making her way through the crowded dancefloor. Familiar dark, wavy hair and brown skin are what catch his eye, before he realizes that she's even wearing red, the way he always thinks of her, fiery and passionate.

Ben hurries down the stairs as fast as he can, but finds his path is blocked by two of his classmates determinedly making out on the bottom step.

"Hey, do you mind… Excuse me, can I please… Oh my God, just let me through!"

He ends up just barreling through them, careful not to step on any appendages. He thinks he can still spot the top of Devi's head above the crowd, and he's just about to go after her when he feels a hand grip his arm.

"Ben, hey!" says a voice beside him. He's determined to shake the hand off and keep going after Devi, but the person continues, "Or should I say _the United States of America_?!" Ben finally looks at the hand on his arm, and then at its owner. It's Sarah with the glasses from Model UN; standing behind her are the rest of the MUN nerds. The second Ben glances back to the lobby, he can't see Devi anymore.

Ben sighs.

He really should talk to the Model UN nerds. Aside from Trent, and Devi and her group, they're probably the closest thing he has to friends.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?"

"Sooo great! Thanksss ssoooo much for inviting us," Sarah slurs. Ben cringes; she's already sloppy drunk, and it looks like the rest of the MUN isn't too far behind.

"Uh, yeah, no problem." Ben nods at the others, and makes eye contact with the people he's talked to the most outside of meetings. "Liv, Hannah. What's up?"

"Not much, just having an awesome time at the first no-parents party I've ever been invited to!" Hannah tells him, her dark curly hair bouncing as she vigorously bobs up and down to the beat of the music.

"Seriously, thanks so much for inviting us! This is even cooler than that one Model UN trip to Davis!" Olivia chimes in. She doesn't look too smashed, but her trademark braid is already coming loose and unravelling on her shoulder, signalling the beginning of her descent into drunkenness.

"Oh my God, wasn't that the one where Equatorial Guinea nuked everyone?! I almost forgot about that!" Hannah giggles. "I mean, it almost got us banned from conferences for the rest of the year, but it was kinda worth it!"

"Sooo funny!" Sarah agrees, waving her hands exaggeratingly and causing a good amount of beer to slosh out of the solo cup she's holding. When she gets distracted, Ben smoothly takes the cup from her hand and sets it down by the wall behind him; no-one seems to notice.

"Hey, how come she never came back for any other conferences?" Olivia asks. "All the ones after that sucked. No-one else ever managed to get booze."

"Devi only came that time 'cause Eric got sick," Ben reminds them, annoyed. "Besides, she was the reason we almost got banned, remember?!"

"That's too bad," Hannah sighs. "She was fun."

Ben zones out for a bit afterwards, getting lost in the memories of that particular trip. When he comes back to reality, the group is excitedly (and drunkenly) talking about international diplomacy, so he slinks towards the kitchen to get a drink. He grabs a Whiteclaw out of the fridge and takes a few sips. The house is getting hot now, probably from all the bodies inside, and Ben runs a hand through his hair to sweep it off his forehead. Oh God, did he just mess up his hair? He doesn't want to look like a mess at his own graduation party, even if no-one else particularly seems to care. Ben heads towards the bathroom on the main floor, but even from a few feet away he can hear the sounds of projectile vomiting, so he goes upstairs to use the second bathroom. Thankfully, the couple that was at the bottom of the stairs has moved their makeout somewhere else.

After he comes out of the upstairs bathroom, Ben notices that the door to the main guest room is open, and there's a figure standing inside, drink in hand. He's pretty sure he closed that door so that his dad's Doobie Brothers merch wouldn't be endangered by horny teenagers, so he creeps along the hallway to investigate. As he gets closer and closer, enough to make out the person's slender figure and the messy black hair that's been wrestled into a high ponytail, Ben's pretty sure he knows who it is. He reaches out, putting a hand on the person's shoulder.

"Devi?"


End file.
